


Avalanche

by sassandpanache



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: M/M, Missing Persons, Natural Disasters, Presumed Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22304140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassandpanache/pseuds/sassandpanache
Summary: *throws this up, runs and hides*
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 22
Kudos: 50





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> *throws this up, runs and hides*

Link had always appreciated The Weather Channel’s updates. It helped him be prepared for anything. Except this moment.

His phone buzzed and he casually glanced over at the screen without even pausing in his typing. A moment later, the words of the alert registered in his mind, thundering loudly and invading every sense.

“Breaking News: Avalanche Hits California Ski Resort; Several Reported Missing”

Link’s hands trembled as they shot for his phone, pulling on the notification to open the article. He willed his brain to say the words.  _ It’s not where Rhett is, it’s not where Rhett is, it’s not where-- _

It was. The name of the ski resort jumped out and haunted Link’s vision. His heart dropped into his stomach and his body felt hollow.

Link frantically swiped the screen to call Rhett, to hear his voice, to make sure that he was okay. A chill settled into his bones as he pressed ‘call’.

_ Hey, you’ve reached Rhett. Leave a message. _

“No,” Link choked out. A sob escaped as he tried again. Again, it went straight to voicemail. Again and again, Link tried to call Rhett, hoping for a different result. It didn’t come.

Switching into the Messages app, he tapped out his messages and sent up a prayer.

_ <<Rhett, call me as soon as you get this.>> _

_ <<I saw there was an avalanche at the ski resort.>> _

_ <<At least tell me you’re okay.>> _

_ <<This isn’t funny.>> _

_ <<Send something.>> _

_ <<Anything.>> _

_ <<Please.>> _

_ <<Rhett.>> _

_ <<Please.>> _

Link paced back and forth in his kitchen, unable to sit still, staring at his phone. Rhett had left the night before for this ski trip. He had joked about bringing Link and teaching him a thing or two on the slopes, but Link decided against it.  _ If I had gone, I’d be with him right now. I should have gone. What if he’s scared? What if he’s hurt? What if he’s-- _

His heart refused to let his brain finish that thought as his stomach violently intervened. He made it to the bathroom before any bigger mess could be made, retching into the toilet over the mere notion that Rhett could be gone. He slumped back on the floor, his back against the wall. He stared at his phone, still in his hand, willing it to give him a notification. He clicked into the local news app if there were any updates.

_ One person died and another was seriously injured… _

The phone dropped from his hand into his lap, his eyes welling with tears. Everything about Rhett flashed in his mind like a movie montage. His eyes, how they flashed green when he was more mischievous or gray when he was angry. His smile and the way it puffed his cheeks up like small, perfect apples. How he smelled of a certain kind of home. The motion of the man; the way he walked or the way he stroked his beard in thought. How his hand felt in Link’s when held in fear or in jest. His stubbornness. His humor. His knowledge, real or imagined. The way he made Link feel safe, the way he was patient with Link, the way Link loved him all these years. 

Link wept. For all the memories built, the future lost and missed opportunities to say what Link kept foolishly hidden all these years. He pulled himself up, still weeping, and crawled into bed. He cried himself to sleep within minutes.


	2. Rescue

Link woke later to pounding on his door. No doubt Stevie finding out about Rhett and coming to check on him. He dragged himself out of bed and trudged to the door. He pulled it open and fell to his knees, gasping for the breath knocked from his lungs. The man on the other side dropped to him, his large hands pulling Link toward the broad chest.

“Link,” Rhett said breathlessly, hugging Link as if he were a life preserver in the middle of the ocean. Link’s gasps gave way to heaving sobs as his senses overflowed with everything Rhett. He grasped for Rhett, his arms and hands not enough to hold as much of the man as he wanted to.

“I—I cal-call—“ Link was trying to speak, but the sobs broke his English. Rhett knew though.

“I lost my phone. In the snow,” Rhett said, trying to untangle himself a little from Link so he could look at him. Link drank in every bit of his face. There was a cut on his lip and a bruise had spread up his cheek, but his eyes— _ his eyes— _ still held the spark that Link had known his whole life and feared was extinguished. But it was there, burning brighter than ever and Link felt as though it sparked through him.

“Don’t leave me again,” Link pleaded desperately, his hands going to Rhett’s face. The wiry beard, the smooth skin—he was here. Really here. “I can’t lose you.”

“You never will,” Rhett said, tears rolling down his cheeks. “All I could think about was getting back to you. I was so terrified. The snow—it came so fast. I got smacked in the face with a branch, but I was lucky. Once I was accounted for with the police and the paramedics checked me out, I raced home to you. I knew—I  _ knew _ you’d hear and I didn’t want to scare you.” 

“Why didn’t you call?”

“I did, the first gas station I could get to. I left you so many messages.”

Link sniffled as he continued holding Rhett’s face, framed in his hands. He gazed over every centimeter, drinking him in, committing it all to memory once more.

“I can not lose you, Rhett. You’re everything to me. My whole world crumbled at the idea that you would leave me like that.”

“Never,” Rhett interrupted, as Link babbled on, urging himself to say what he needed to say. Rhett had the same compulsion. “I would never leave you.”

“You’re my whole world—“

“The only place I want to be is by your side—”

“I love you.”

Both of them said it at the same time, both with realization dawning on their faces as they absorbed what the other said. 

“You love me?” Link whispered, a breathless chuckle escaping. An unspoken question hiding in plain sight.

“Always. You love me?”

“Forever.”

As if pulled by some magnetic field, their lips came together fiercely and desperately. The kiss was primal, intense, as years of hidden feelings and the fresh memories of loss exploded forth in dueling tongues, soft lips and small whimpers. They broke apart, breathless once more for entirely different reasons.

“Well, what do we do now?” Link asked, the hunger in his eyes evident.

“I want to show you just how alive I am right now,” Rhett said as he dove back into Link’s touch and kiss, losing himself in a different kind of avalanche.


End file.
